


Luna Moths

by juliannos



Series: Fire Emblem One Shots [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fictober 2019, Flirting, Fluff, Pre-Relationship, just so much fluff, no betas we die like men, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-10 20:04:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20857490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juliannos/pseuds/juliannos
Summary: Claude drags Byleth on an adventure. Byleth marvels at how much Claude has changed since she woke up from her nap.





	Luna Moths

“Hey Teach, c’mon! I know you’re faster than that!” 

Byleth huffed in frustration. “One, you don’t need to call me Teach anymore! I’m not exactly your teacher now,” she called, continuing to push herself up the steep hill in order to catch up with Claude. “Two, I was asleep for five years! I might be just a tiny bit out of shape!”

“Nonsense,” he said, turning and watching her climb as he waited near the summit. “I saw you take on those bandits - you’re still in top form, Teach.” He placed an extra emphasis on the nickname and she watched as he failed to hide his smirk. He was goading her, she knew that, but she just ignored it and concentrated on walking. She didn’t want him to know just how exhausted she was feeling. It was as if when she and Sothis became one, the goddess imparted her propensity for napping as well. It was rather frustrating, if she was being honest, but with everything that had happened her in absence and since she woke up… well, she didn’t have time to be tired. She had a promise to keep to herself: to keep her students alive. It didn’t matter they weren’t students anymore - in fact, most of them were older than her now - but she had made a promised she would protect them, and she would. Come hell, high water, or deep existential exhaustion.

When she finally reached Claude, she paused for a moment to catch her breath. “Everything alright?” he asked, peering down at her with concern.

“I’ll be fine,” she assured. “Steeper than expected.” The excuse sounded hollow even to herself.

Claude gazed at her for a long moment before he turned and pulled himself up to summit proper. “In that case,” he said, turning back to her and reaching out his hand. “Let me at least be a gentleman and help. To make up for my lack of consideration before.” It was said with an edge of sarcasm, but his smile was genuine.

“Oh my,” Byleth responded, faking shock. “Lorenz would be so proud.”

“Lorenz can only aspire to my level of gentlemanliness,” he scoffed as he grasped her now offered hand.

Byleth laughed, in spite of her difficulties breathing. “What is all this about, Claude?” she asked, pulling herself over the ridge.

“You’ll see,” he said, giving her a trademark wink before turning and walking away.

“That’s hardly reassuring,” she said, dusting off her cloak before moving to follow.

“C’mon Teach! It’ll be fun, trust me!” he called over his shoulder, still sauntering away. She had to give him credit for maintaining an air of ease, even while climbing a steep hill. There was no way she would be able to manage that… Sighing, she trudged behind him, careful not to trip over the rocks embedded into the dirt.

“Couldn’t we have just brought your Wyvern for this?” she asked, watching as he turn and entered into a cave. “Saved us the hike?”

“Sure, but walking here is half the fun,” he replied, turning to wink at her. “Besides, perhaps I just wanted to take advantage of the time away. You know, think of something else other than the war for a while.” 

She could feel the humor slip from her face as she nodded solemnly. “Right,” she said, her words sounding hollow.

“Come on,” he said, again reaching out his hand. “It’s not much further.”

She still hadn’t gotten used to this new, more grown-up, Claude. Sure, he still had the same impish smile, the same easy swagger, and a million schemes rolling around in his mind at any point. But, he was also more outwardly serious than before. He had always had ambition and focus before, but he tried hard to mask those traits behind a mask of easy-going charm. Now he made no effort to hide either and it was a little disarming.

She nodded silently and placed her hand in his, thinking he was just going to pull her along in order to move faster. Instead, he fell into step beside her and squeezed her hand as they walked into the cave. “This way,” he motioned.

Byleth attempted to pay attention to where they were going, but she could only focus on the warmth of Claude’s hand in hers. It was… nice, especially considering her own felt so cold in comparison. She glanced up at him, noticing - really noticing - that he was taller than she remembered. But his eyes still shined, even in the gloom of the cave and she found herself taken in by them.

“Enjoying the view, Teach?”

She jumped at the sound of his voice and felt a warm heat spread over her face and up her ears. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mhmm,” he said, clearly not believing her. “Well, we’re here.”

For the first time, she really looked at the cavern she had found herself in. “Where’s… here?” she asked, taking in the darkness of the cave, but not really seeing anything important otherwise. “It just looks like a cave.”

“Patience, dear professor,” he said, slipping his hand from hers. She felt a momentary pang of loss until his hands grasped her shoulder and turned her slowly to face… something. “Just wait a few more seconds…”

“Claude, what is -” she started asking but then a flicker of light caught her eye. She turned to focus on it better when several other pinpricks of light began to dot the cavern wall. After a moment, several of them floating into the air, fluttering between one rock and other. It was then she was able to see them for what they were: small butterflies.

She watched in silence as the butterflies flew around them, some pausing to land her clothes, her hair. She giggled a bit from their featherlight touches, but mainly just enjoyed the sight of them. After a while, she glanced her shoulder towards Claude. “How did you know about this?”

“Well, you see,” he said, voice soft in her ear. “I, may have, occasionally, left the monastery to do some exploring in my down time. You know, getting a lay of the land, looking for new ingredients for my experiments. That sort of thing.”

“And did your professor sanction these trips?” she asked, an eyebrow raised.

He seemed to think for a moment. “I just thought they were busy enough and what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.” By this point he was smiling at her again and she felt her stomach flop.

“Well, they are beautiful,” she said, ignoring her feelings and instead concentrating on the butterflies. “So, I suppose I will keep your excursions to myself instead of reporting you.”

She felt herself gasp as he leaned down in order to whisper directly into her ear. “I always knew I could count on you,” he replied. That warm feeling from before raced into face again and she resisted the urge to cover it. He just chuckled again before moving to stand next to her. Without thinking, she leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

**Author's Note:**

> look, so much of this makes no sense, so just… enjoy it for what it is?? also, this is the fluffiest thing I’ve written in a while so any issues with just… blame my rustiness. 
> 
> I think next I want to try a vampire fic… hmmm…


End file.
